Radioactive Fish Above Legal Limit Caught in River North Of Tokyo – ‘Survey Finds Radiation Over Wide Area in Japan’ (Wall Street Journal)

TOKYO—The first comprehensive survey of soil contamination from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant showed that 33 locations spread over a wide area have been contaminated with long-lasting radioactive cesium, the government said Tuesday.

The survey of 2,200 locations within a 100-kilometer (62-mile) radius of the crippled plant found that those locations had cesium-137 in excess of 1.48 million becquerels per square meter, the level set by the Soviet Union for forced resettlement after the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, Japanese authorities said.

Another 132 locations had a combined amount of cesium-137/134 of more than 555,000 becquerels per square meter, the level at which the Soviet authorities called for voluntary evacuation and imposed a ban on farming.

Japanese authorities said all of the highest levels are within the current evacuation zone, which is about 20 kilometers around the plant, plus some specific towns to the northwest that already have been found to have high levels of contamination.

Japanese authorities said last week they expected the levels of radiation to fall by half in areas around the plant in two years, through natural decay and cleanup efforts. But the latest data point to the possibility that cesium could also be washing away and spreading to other areas, potentially contaminating rivers, lower-lying land and the ocean.

Gunma prefecture, north of Tokyo, reported Monday that a fish containing more than the legally allowed amount of cesium was caught in a river in the prefecture, the first such case outside Fukushima prefecture, where the plant is located.

Cesium-137 has a half life of 30 years, meaning that its radioactive emissions will decline only by half after 30 years and affect the environment over several generations. Cesium-134 is considered somewhat less of a long-term problem because it has a half-life of two years.

More than 400 researchers from across the country aided in the survey, conducted between June and July, collecting samples from every two square kilometers of land within the 100-kilometer radius of the crippled plant. Until then, only estimates were available about the extent of soil contamination through aerial surveys and above-ground radiation monitoring.

“The results of the soil analysis have confirmed our estimates about contamination,” an official of the education ministry said at a news briefing.

Also Tuesday, plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. said a 40-year-old worker died of acute leukemia after working for seven days at the plant. The worker’s cumulative radiation exposure was 0.5 millisievert, far below the legal limit. Tepco said his death is unlikely to be related to his work at the plant.

Separately, the Health and Labor Ministry said it may again lower the radiation exposure limit for workers at the plant from 250 millisieverts per year to 100 millisieverts, a level applied to other nuclear plants in Japan in emergency situations. The higher level had been set in March as an emergency level for workers only at Fukushima Daiichi.

… these are not “dosimeters” but “glass badges” that passively collect radiation information. It won’t help these children or their parents to avoid high-radiation areas and spots, it won’t tell them how much radiation they will have been exposed unless they are sent in to a company to interpret the data.

Radiation exposure is increased by a factor of a trillion. Inhaling even the tiniest particle, that’s the danger.

Yo: So making comparisons with X-rays and CT scans has no meaning. Because you can breathe in radioactive material.

Hirose: That’s right. When it enters your body, there’s no telling where it will go. The biggest danger is women, especially pregnant women, and little children. Now they’re talking about iodine and cesium, but that’s only part of it, they’re not using the proper detection instruments. What they call monitoring means only measuring the amount of radiation in the air. Their instruments don’t eat. What they measure has no connection with the amount of radioactive material.

Dr. Helen Caldicott (Co-founder of Physicians for Social Responsibility):

You’ve bought the propaganda from the nuclear industry. They say it’s low-level radiation. That’s absolute rubbish. If you inhale a millionth of a gram of plutonium, the surrounding cells receive a very, very high dose. Most die within that area, because it’s an alpha emitter. The cells on the periphery remain viable. They mutate, and the regulatory genes are damaged. Years later, that person develops cancer. Now, that’s true for radioactive iodine, that goes to the thyroid; cesium-137, that goes to the brain and muscles; strontium-90 goes to bone, causing bone cancer and leukemia. It’s imperative … that you understand internal emitters and radiation, and it’s not low level to the cells that are exposed. Radiobiology is imperative to understand these days.”The Japanese people are used as guinea pigs: